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The entire purpose of a Homeowners' Association (HOA) is to make our lives easier — to keep neighborhoods neat, safe, and welcoming. In theory, if you move into a new residence within its jurisdiction, you should sense a host of perks straight away, from strikingly manicured lawns to exclusive amenities and community-wide 4th of July celebrations. But far too often, board members go on power trips to keep residents under their heels, and even charge for the pleasure.

Small wonder, then, that many people are sick and tired of these organizations that spiral out of control. So when Redditor Glam_SpaceTime reached out to fellow members of 'Ask Reddit' and invited them to share the worst experiences they’ve ever had with HOAs, the responses came flooding in.

To show you the ridiculous lengths they go to frustrate their residents, we at Bored Panda gathered some downright infuriating HOA horror stories from the thread. So continue scrolling and upvote as you go, but be warned: these responses might make you immediately abandon the idea of ever living in a residential neighborhood. Let us know about your own experiences in the comments, and then be sure to check out our last publication filled with HOA nightmares right over here.

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#1

30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories I slipped in my driveway and fell and broke my femur near my hip and couldn't get up. I was laying in my driveway calling for help for about 30 minutes and I could hear people walking past but nobody stopped for quite a while. I eventually asked someone to call an ambulance as my phone was in my car out of reach and got taken care of. Spent a few days in the hospital and when I got home I had a letter from my HOA saying I was in violation for sleeping in my driveway in the middle of the day. So the people who walked by and definitely heard me call for help and didn't stop were from the HOA or reported me to them.

Zonerdrone , pcdazero Report

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    #2

    At the start of Covid, our 8 home HOA treasurer just… stopped collecting dues. No invoices, no reminders, nothing. It’s a three year term that’s almost up, so there’s no telling what’s going to happen when/if they change treasurers. Nobody seems to mind, or even really talk about it. Everyone just seems to enjoy the extra $125 a quarter in their bank account, and there’s plenty in the HOA account to cover the expenses and insurance for years to come.

    It’s me. I’m the treasurer.

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    #3

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories HOA attempted to hold a "secret" community meeting, where they'd vote on turning the large field and walking path everyone used for recreation into an RV park. It was "secret" because they basically told no one and put up the required notice in a place where no one would see. As you can probably guess, most of the board owned RVs.

    Thankfully a few neighbors took notice and started knocking on doors. A crowd showed up and the proposal was starkly shot down. F*****g dirtbags.

    CloudsOntheBrain , StartupStockPhotos Report

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    Bored Panda managed to get in touch with the person who sparked this conversation on the platform, Redditor Glam_SpaceTime, who was kind enough to have a little chat with us about the topic. When asked what inspired them to start this discussion, they told us, "I was watching AttorneyTom, who said there are specialized attorneys in HOAs. I come from the Netherlands, where only apartment complexes have HOAs (called VvE). I was just curious if HOAs are that bad." And guessing from the deluge of responses to their question, the answer is crystal clear.

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    But Glam_SpaceTime revealed they were surprised to see the thread blow up as much as it did. The amount of attention to their post made it obvious how deeply it resonated with the community members. "Based on the replies, I think people reacted to show their frustration," the Redditor added.
    #4

    I sued my HOA for harassment years ago. There was 3 board members that harassed us about everything from our vehicle being 2 inches out of our driveway onto the sidewalk, curtains, things in our backyard. Anyway we sued them and we won. The 3 board members were removed and can never serve on a board in the state of Florida ever again. We moved and now live in a non HOA and will never live in an HOA again. Paying the $5k to sue them was well worth it, zero regrets.

    TallerMom1021 Report

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    Alma Muminovic
    Alma Muminovic
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Lol. Good for you, the fact that you even had to is incredible.

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    #5

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories HOA of my neighborhood tried to tell me that my house needed to be added on to, because houses need to be at least 1800 sq ft in the neighborhood. My house is 1750 sq ft. HOA was started in 2004. My house was built in 1989. My family took the HOA to court, to make a long story short, HOA had to back down, cuz their rules didn’t exist until AFTER the house was built. So, the HOA rules do not apply to my house.

    AmaranthRosenrot , paulbr75 Report

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    James016
    James016
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I would have told them that they would have to pay for it. Otherwise F Off

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    #6

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories I didn't think much of my HOA since the fee is only 6 bucks a month, and they're pretty powerless. They maintain some fencing and a small amount of community land that is just undeveloped woods.

    Someone in our neighborhood decided he could save money by parking his fleet of a half dozen large septic trucks in his yard, instead of parking them off site at a place of business. No one wants ugly, s**t smelling trucks on a corner lot in a suburban neighborhood. Our little HOA went into action. Shortly thereafter he moved his trucks.

    Not all HOAs are bad. I am very happy we had one, otherwise it would have been years of fighting in courts to get some sort of injunction against this awful neighbor, IF we won. Big if. And who would have paid for all that?

    OlDirtyTriple , scholty1970 Report

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    SheamusFanFrom1987
    SheamusFanFrom1987
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This sounds like the HOA being heroes rather than pricks. I'm not sure this should even be here.

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    The examples in this thread prove that some rules and restrictions HOAs impose on their residents seem absurd. With strict guidelines on noise, parking, walls, fences, painting, landscaping, tenants, garage storage, new construction, repairs, remodeling — literally just about anything — many Americans feel frustrated when these organizations go too far.

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    "I was shocked at first, just how bad those rules are," Glam_SpaceTime said. "One HOA president commented it was mostly about how the neighborhood looks and property value. He has a point about how you maintain the garden, but the rules described in the comments are just crazy. I don’t see how hanging a plant can lead to a lower property value. For me, rules like this would cause unnecessary stress," they added.
    #7

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Drones were used to make sure no one was growing vegetables in their backyards.

    No parking along the street in front of your house.

    Garbage cans had to be brought in within 15 minutes of pickup, though that was a different time each week.

    My neighbor was sued (and lost) after replacing their old windows. The new frames were the "wrong shade of eggshell cream."

    EhlersDanlosSucks , fill Report

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    #8

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Got a “friendly reminder” letter to: remove the political sign from the front of my house. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine I placed the Ukrainian flag next to my USA flag located in my front yard. After some back and forth correspondence and a Zoom HOA Board meeting, I reiterated that: it’s not a sign and not political as defined in the CCC&Rs and the State’s guidelines.
    After five months, the flags are still there, unfortunately so are the f’ing Russians.
    Moral: when these pricks start to get in your face, call their bluff in a public forum.

    NotDazedorConfused , neelam279 Report

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    Raven Null
    Raven Null
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I wonder if they would call a pride flag a political sign 🤔

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    #9

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories One of my coworker got a warning from his HOA saying that he had too many boxes inside his garage. They claimed that he couldn't use his garage for storage.

    BirdSh*tPie , funkblast Report

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    If you have never lived in a neighborhood with an HOA, you may not be aware of the stigma that surrounds these organizations. But if you ask anyone whose home is a part of one, you're bound to hear about at least one problematic encounter. See, while some people value that their HOA takes care of their community, others lament their excessive fees, poor management, and unnecessary list of rules. An HOA neighborhood can be a haven to some, while others will jump at the opportunity to move out.

    As of 2021, community associations are home to more than 73 million Americans and represent nearly a quarter of the housing stock in the country. Moreover, new associations are forming every day and are expected to increase by 4,500 this year alone. But when it comes to how they are perceived by the residents, it reminds us of a rocky love-hate relationship.

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    #10

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories They wouldn’t let me add an acre of land onto my property. My neighbor owned 100 acres of land and was letting me buy an acre from him to add onto the 4 acres of land I already had. Since you can not build anything on 1 acre the HOA was refusing the purchase. However, when some lawyer said it was ok they let me buy the acre. I think they just wanted to waste our time.

    TheCactusClub , paulbr75 Report

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    loty moty
    loty moty
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Give little people a little power, and it goes straight to their little heads

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    #11

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Not an official HOA, but the management at my trailer park were very upset with me. Why? I was simply exploiting a loophole. We are technically only allowed two pets per household, and I had 8 chickens. I was able to get away with this for so long (3-4 years), that I thought no one would ever notice. But if they did, I had a plan. Reading the lease rules, I came to the conclusion that my chickens were technically "livestock", and being that there was no rule listed against livestock on the property, I went ahead and got them anyway.

    Fast forward to about eight months ago, and my manager discovered my coop. She had a very heated argument with me, but I kept my cool, and explained to her that I was not breaking any rules. She left after about a half hour of shouting and general unruliness. Around a week later, at around 10:00 p.m., I hear my chickens panicking (being louder than usual). I assume that an animal is trying to get into the coop, as we have a stray/feral cat problem, and it has happened before, so I retrieve my shotgun and go out the back door and around the back of the house. And what do I find? None other than my manager, as well as the park's landscaping guy, trying to pry the roof of of my coop and stuff my chickens into waiting animal carriers. I rack the shotgun, getting their attention, and watch them promptly run out the front gate.

    Nightmarish behavior on her part, but I waited a week to see if anything else would happen, and when nothing did, I decided to let it go. She learned her lesson, and so did I: don't leave your chickens in plain sight!

    Afraid-Drawing-9730 , AndreasGoellner Report

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    Jill Bussey
    Jill Bussey
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So stealing your livestock was morally acceptable to her???

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    #12

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories I have three. Two about me, one about my neighbor.

    I moved into a new construction neighborhood after picking out all the bells and whistles for the dream house.

    About two years after I moved in, the garbage truck managed to destroy the garbage can somehow. The sanitation company replaced it, but in the time between the trash account being set up and the mishap the sanitation company changed the color and style of cans they provided.

    My HOA told me that my garbage can was unauthorized and could not be left on the street on trash day because it was visually detracting.

    I went to the city sanitation and explained what was going on, and they told me that they didn't maintain the old stock of cans and they had switched over to the new ones when the old ones ran out.

    So I had to take a letter from them back to the HOA, who would not budge and told me that I needed to have the same kind of can as everybody else.

    Everybody had their can in the same place on the same side of each house when it wasn't trash day.

    So I ended up having to put the new can in the back yard and wheel it around the house at the exact moment that the trash truck showed up, and immediately wheel it back to the back yard.

    I had to make special arrangements with work to be able to do this every Monday.

    The second (context: I had the house built in 2002) I had a 1998 Chevy SUV, which was four years old. I received a letter from the HOA that said my vehicle, (which didn't have a single dent, scratch or paint blemish and was washed and tire dressing applied weekly) was an eyesore and couldn't be parked in my driveway.

    The letter referred to it being disabled/junker. Granted, I lived in a neighborhood of Mercedes, BMW and Range Rovers but it definitely wasn't in the class of junk.

    So I had to park my truck in the garage and every time I needed to leave I had to play musical cars with my (then) wife.

    The third was for my neighbor. His lawnmower stopped running, so he hired somebody to come in and do his lawn until he was able to get it fixed or get a new one. He hired somebody, who did the absolutely normal park the truck on the street while they are doing the lawn. (It was just one guy) the HOA shows up, and demands the lawn mowing service not park on the street- but instead park OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY because his work truck and trailer "detracted from the classy and elegant stature of the community"

    They called the police when he refused.

    I ended up selling the house and moving out because there were 14 million other stupid reasons all revolving around the HOA-

    I bought a house and while I was looking I absolutely, positively refused to look at a house that had anything to do with an HOA.

    Toobatheviking , bluebudgie Report

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    April Caron
    April Caron
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had a similar issue with an HOA and our recycle can. They used to be green… then the company went to tan cans. I got notice after notice. Recycling wasn’t mandated, so I had to have the company pick up their tan recycling can… and I was just forced to throw everything into trash. :/

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    A survey by InsuranceQuates.com questioned over 600 people from various demographics and found that how they feel about their HOA depends on their generation. Interestingly, baby boomers were the most likely to say they love their association, while Gen Xers were the ones who hate them most. This could be explained by the fact that baby boomers are gradually reaching retirement age, so they are keen on living in a peaceful and well-maintained environment.

    Moreover, feelings toward HOA were also influenced by whether the respondents had ever served on the board. Out of current and former HOA board members, 57% reported loving their organization. What’s more, 75% of these participants revealed that their HOA fees were worth it.

    The researchers found that board membership is key for residents to see the value in their HOA as it allows them to take a peek behind the scenes and be a part of the community's decisions. "Studies show that most of us don’t like being told what to do, so being a part of the decision-making process might just make the HOA policies more palatable," they wrote.
    #13

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories My wife and I bought our condo almost 6 years ago and the guy we bought it from had owned it for less than a year. When we closed he said he had never got a key to the neighborhood pool when he bought the place from the previous owner but he was old so didn’t care and was never gonna use it. We said no big deal, we will just ask for a new one. Well the HoA wants us to pay $300 for a “new” key because we had “lost” our old one and it’s some fraud prevention measure to stop people from selling their pool keys or something. We had told them immediately after moving in we never got a key and after 6 years they refuse to get us a new one. We just pick the lock and go anyway but if it was an issue I’d be furious at the ridiculousness of making us pay into the HoA to maintain this pool when we never got access to it even though it wasn’t our fault and probably not even the fault of the guy before us.

    Manly_Mangos , mastersenaiper Report

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    #14

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Not a horror story but we had a snowstorm that dumped about 6 feet of snow on us overnight. It was garbage day that morning, so our full dumpster was sitting at the road waiting to be picked up, completely covered in snow (as was everything else) and no one could get to their garbage cans. The snowstorm turned into an ice storm which took everything outside hostage. 6 inches of solid ice on everything, cementing the dumpster in place. The next day, the ice and snow melted just enough to see the lids, but they were still buried. Trash pickup was delayed because they couldn’t get the trucks through the snow because the HOA didn’t include plowing our community’s streets.

    The next morning, we got a notice emailed to us about how our garbage had been sitting out for 3 days and that it needed to be moved immediately or we would pay a fine. They literally did nothing positive at all, ever. Total thievery.

    Mellopiex , noah210 Report

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    Alma Muminovic
    Alma Muminovic
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They should have an opt in opt out option for an HOA. If enough people in the neighborhood opt out then it should not exist.

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    #15

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories I got six separate notices for a parked RV in front of someone else's garage.

    It wasn't my RV.
    It wasn't my garage.

    It was parked in front of the owner's house for about 2 hours while he loaded it up prior to a camping trip.

    The best part is that they photographed the violation and it's clearly someone else's stuff in front of someone else's house.

    thecasualchemist , MemoryCatcher Report

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    Of course, certain decisions don’t sit well with some people. A 2015 survey by the Coalition for Community Housing Policy in the Public Interest revealed that more than two-thirds of people surveyed had been involved in a significant dispute with their association, and 60% of those disputes remained unresolved. What this means is that if you live in an HOA, it’s only a matter of time before you find yourself in a disagreement with one.

    Finicky rules are often at the center of HOA-homeowner tensions, which can make residents feel like they’re perpetually under a short leash. The good news is that when people are dissatisfied with the organization, there are several ways they can attempt to resolve the issue. While it’s rare to get rid of an HOA as it is a lengthy and expensive process, homeowners can figure out the problem and find ways to tackle it so the organization can operate properly.
    #16

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Everyone had to drag their trash bins down a hill to a curb where the garbage truck would pick it up. People would be slow to get their bins back after pick up. So the HOA went a dragged all the bins to the other side of the neighborhood and threw them in a pile in a random patch of public grass. So we pay these people to be childishly petty and antagonize us? And their "punishment" only created more of an eyesore than bins uniformly lined up on a curb.

    FireteamAccount , luede_m Report

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    viktorwottschel avatar
    Viktor
    Viktor
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’m sure the municipality would like to hear about their littering the public space with random bins.

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    #17

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Visited a friend who lived in a strict HOA neighborhood. I was a smoker at the time, he didn't allow smoking in the house and the HOA had a rule about smoking outside. You weren't even allowed to smoke or have visible alcohol cans/bottles in your own back yard. Yep, if you drank alcohol during a cookout or whatever, it had to be poured into cups. They also had rules about parking in the driveway for more than 30 minutes, visiting the guy was a pain in the a*s.

    imnotacrazyperson , pexels Report

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    darkopei avatar
    And i was like WTF!!
    And i was like WTF!!
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wait wait wait, can anyone explain this to me: So i buy a house, my house, with my back yard and my front yard, and then i cant get out and have a smoke, or drink a beer from a can in MY back yard?? What the acctual f**k!!??

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    #18

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories HOA tried to enforce a rule that many houses in the community didn't comply with. I did some checking and it turns out that (at least in our state) if an HOA doesn't enforce a rule on **everyone**, then they can't enforce the time on **anyone**.

    mypoliticalvoice , ArtisticOperations Report

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    Colin Timp
    Colin Timp
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Same holds true with termination from an employer. If they don't follow policy to the letter for everyone equally it becomes grounds for collecting unemployment. For example, if they have a policy regarding missed work. If they say that 6 absences is a warning, 7 a suspension, and 8 termination, they have to follow that. If they allowed even 1 person to go like 12 without action taken, you have grounds to dispute "cause "

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    Ursula Burgess, President, Board of Trustees for the Community Associations Institute, told HomeLight that when it comes to the idea that the HOA "needs to go", it usually boils down to two issues. "Either the current make-up of the board is less than ideal, or there’s a question of maintenance issues within the community, and people don’t want to pay," Burgess said.

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    Sometimes, a problematic HOA situation can be fixed for the better by removing a board member who might be causing the issues. "The good news is that there is generally a mechanism that allows for members to vote out board members." And in many cases, this will allow people to step up and replace that same board member, so Burgess advised: "I tell people all the time, if someone is very vocal in a board meeting and we have a vacancy, they should appoint that person. Let them take the energy and concern they have and use it for the betterment of the association."
    #19

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories 50 years ago a former owner planted two citrus trees too close to the property line. Neighbors didn't mind because they were happy to get free fruit.

    Two years after we buy the place the HOA sends us a warning letter that we need to trim back both trees. But they don't send the warning in winter or spring. No, they wait until it's triple digit weather (104 F / 40 C).

    Nobody had complained about our trees. Some new electee to the board had gotten snoopy and overzealous.

    So I head out back with ladder and a manual saw in the early morning. The overhanging limbs violated the fine print so it had to be done. After the temperature heated up to 90 F I called it quits, then started up early Sunday for another round. The project wasn't done yet because there it required too much sawing.

    Sent an email to the board with a progress photo and assured them the work would continue to progress on Saturday and Sunday mornings until it was completed, but had to be spread over several weeks for (a) safety reasons, and (b) because the trash pickup bins would only hold so much.

    Got an officious reply Monday afternoon insisting the board had always been diligent about this and it was up to me to finish the job pronto, since I had created the problem.

    Wrote back with a second photo: a close-up of twenty years of growth rings on one of the branches. Added a note that we'd only owned the home two years. Asked whether the board would assume liability for any injuries sustained if we rushed the job to come into immediate compliance.

    They gave us six weeks. Finished the work in three.

    doublestitch , Hans Report

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    ohjojo (you/your's)
    ohjojo (you/your's)
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Cutting back a productive fruit tree sounds absolutely cruel. No fruit for them!

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    #20

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories We live in a historic district so the HOA is super strict about the exterior of our homes. Our patio door was warped so we spent forever trying to find the exact same style/color antique door to replace it. As soon as we did they got [angry] we didn’t get it approved first. The only way you would even know we swapped it was if you were watching it happen.

    ttrimmers , No-longer-here Report

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    ohjojo (you/your's)
    ohjojo (you/your's)
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The HOA is like Santa Claus. They see you when you're sleeping they know when you're awake

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    #21

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories My HOA at my childhood home spent months trying to take my dad to court for the height of our bush. They were literally measuring it with a tape measure every day.

    saramambiche0 , andreas160578 Report

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    April Caron
    April Caron
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Similar issue happened at my partner’s parents’ home in Galveston. After a hurricane wiped out a lot of landscaping, the HOA stepped in and said homeowners had to have so many trees re-planted. My partner’s parents re-planted the trees… but then it was “the trunks of the trees have to be at least 2” in diameter.” Most of the neighborhood’s trees didn’t meet this criteria. My partner’s father purchased two “support” sticks and placed them on either side of his trees and tied them to the trees. Visually, the trunks looked thicker, so this got the HOA off his back.

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    At the end of the day, resolving problems with your HOA comes down to communication and education. "I think when we communicate and we’re educated, that is the ideal mix of what gets us operating smoothly and everyone understanding each other’s roles. We may not be happy with every decision the board makes, but then at least everybody understands why those decisions are being made," Burgess concluded.

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    #22

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Not particularly a horror story, but we were at the community pool at the same time as our HOA president. His grandkids were splashing people, spitting at each other and screaming. Meanwhile, me and my husband (25 and 27) brought 6 friends with us, which we had cleared with our neighbor, the HOA VP. The president came up to us and started drilling us about who is a resident and accusing us of not being property owners. I firmly reminded him that we are VP's neighbor, who knows us quite well and has told said President about how we are friendly and respectful neighbors. He just huffed, walked away, and continued to scowl at us for an hour as we just sat in the pool and quietly chatted.

    cruisegal224 , qino618 Report

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    jppurves avatar
    JP Purves
    JP Purves
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You should have asked the "president" to prove that he lived there and that the children were actually his grandchildren. For all you know he could have been from outside the community and the children were kidnapped.

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    #23

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories The condo association wanted to renovate the pool and pitched the cost they were moving forward with. There were a lot of developers in the building and they noticed that it was about 4 times the cost it should have been. Association says tough cookies, things get fun. People writing notices of what's going on with the association, the association writing emails about it, lots of sniping back and forth.

    Then one day I'm in the lobby waiting for someone to show up and the head of the association and one of the people calling them out ran into each other and they had to immediately get separated by security because they were about to start throwing punches.

    thugloofio , Engin_Akyurt Report

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    #24

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories $375 fine for a flowerpot

    My only regret is that I didn't send a pipe bomb in the return envelope

    do_you_like_my_name , congerdesign Report

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    chachameert avatar
    Charlotte Sandoval
    Charlotte Sandoval
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm petty enough that I would find a way to move rather than pay that. I'll pay for a whole new house that I can add my flower pot to, thanks

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    #25

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories A gorgeous vintage wooden sled that has been in our family for at least 100 years was laid out one winter by my family. We received a letter informing us that since firewood is not allowed in front yards, we had to remove the pile from our yard.

    Loose-Possession-68 , Myriams-Fotos Report

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    #26

    My home is in a rural and unincorporated area, so the HOA is a stand in for local government in many ways. They maintain the parks and roads and local business permits with more power than you'd expect. They also care very little about weeds or trimming trees.

    There is a lovely local lake with a small food cart as the only business. The owners had consistently refused to do boat or paddle board rentals for about 10 years.

    I attended a community meeting to submit a request for a permit to open a paddle board and paddle boat rental business. I laid out the costs and return on investments as part of the required process of making my case. How it wouldn't require any additional land than what was already set aside for commercial purposes.

    It was rejected out of hand and rather forcefully. I again laid out how similar businesses had done well in other areas. I was told to come back to next month's meeting.

    The next month I found the head of the board had partnered with the food cart to rent paddleboards. My business proposal was rejected as redundant.

    Edit: The food cart owner was the son of the head of the HOA, in case you were wondering how he convinced the guy to partner up.

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    #27

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Towed my car illegally, several times, because I had out of state plates on my car. Cost me around $600 total

    Slight-Hovercraft197 , JayMantri Report

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    Florence O'Grady
    Florence O'Grady
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some states have rules that give you 30 days to change your license plate to the new state. Not sure about people in the military.

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    #28

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Letter in the mail: "Please remove the items from the front yard on the right side of your house". Which is confusing because there is nothing on the right side of my house. It's my blank side of the fence between me and my neighbors (the neighbor's door). So lawn, wall, fence. Those are the contents of the right side of my house.

    I call and leave a message asking for clarification, no reply. I email, no reply. I get another mailed warning. Call, nothing, email photos of the side of my house, nothing. Then I get a fine.

    By this point I do a little investigating and I see the same address, similar street name behind me has s**t on the right side of their house. I take copies of my emails, and print out my phone records, copies of their letters and put it all together in a fax and a certified letter to them along with photos of my house, and an explanation that the lazy moron who didn't know the street names clearly made a mistake and that they were lazy morons who couldn't answer the phones or emails. I told them any additional communications would involve a lawyer for harassment, and that I would be taking this info to an HOA meeting.

    Never heard from them again. Didn't even get a reply. The sale of that house was free and clear though so they clearly fixed it. I just don't understand the point of being that terrible. The neighborhood I live in now has a really great HOA (It's Metro Houston so HOA's are a must unfortunately).

    oh-propagandhi , TanteTati Report

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    #29

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories HOA sued us for leaving out garbage bin out a day past garbage day…a total of five times in the three years we’ve lived here

    boardcertifiedb*tch , hans Report

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    viktorwottschel avatar
    Viktor
    Viktor
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    To be fair, a day isn’t really an issue but it quickly becomes a week. In my neighbourhood, bins are being emptied every week (one week general rubbish, then plastic, then greens, then back to general rubbish) and it’s not uncommon for people to leave their bins out until it’s time to swap it for a different one. And of course it’s never in front of their house but half-blocking the corners into side streets.

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    #30

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Grass cut too short

    Black-Shoe , Skitterphoto Report

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    clpatterson1991 avatar
    Linda Patterson
    Linda Patterson
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It grows back quicker than you can mow it. This one is completely ridiculous

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    #31

    Live in an HOA in Texas. HOA board was run entirely by the developer. There were meetings, but the neighborhood effectively had no votes. The contract stated that the homeowners would be able to take over after the neighborhood hit something like 70% capacity. But years went on, and they kept adding more and more roads onto the neighborhood every time we got close to capacity. We still didn't have any say by the time I sold my house and moved to a different state.

    They mostly didn't bother me. But one thing that happened that steamed me was that a lady got a bee up her a*s because there was a group of high school aged black kids who would play basketball at the basketball court every day. Not causing any trouble other than pissing a couple of people off with their cursing. One day the goals were taken down without notice. When people started asking about it, they said that neighbors were complaining about a "gang element" invading our neighborhood. Racist AF.

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    #32

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories My place got flooded twice by my neighbors… the first time, the neighbor next to me had a hot water heater failure (accidental). The second time, the psycho lady who lives above me left her sink running (negligent).

    In both instances, I had to put the claims through MY insurance and also pay my deductible because there was fine print in the HOA contract that we couldn’t go against our neighbors.

    The first incident was about 10k in damages (mainly flooring). The second incident was 20k in damages (flooring, electrical, Sheetrock, counter tops, etc).

    To top it off, our homeowners insurance company (State Farm) dropped us after the second incident even though neither incident was our fault.

    MrMisanthrope411 , PunkToad Report

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    #33

    When I was married, we bought a house in a new construction neighborhood. When buying the home, we were informed that the developer would have full control of the HOA including funds until the neighborhood was done being built, at which time the homeowners would take control. We thought it wasn't that big of a deal, just be patient for a year or so. Well the developer keeps buying acreage adjoining the neighborhood to expand it. Six years later the neighborhood is still expanding with the developer in charge of the HOA. Potholed streets, weeds and overgrowth, a dilapidated pool, ect not to mention the probable misuse (stealing) of funds.

    startinearly Report

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    brendaspagnola avatar
    Brenda
    Brenda
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you are paying HOA fees, they are required to maintain basic maintenance for safety purposes. If they aren't, sue for negligence, health & safety issues & mismanagement and misuse of funds.

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    #34

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories We built a new fence around our property and told us to take it down since the other fences looked old.
    We built a walkway from the door to the driveway, they told us to take it out.

    OkraFit3987 , pezibear Report

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    #35

    They force us to have our fences 6 feet from the property line. Creating weird back alleyways between houses that is overgrown and rarely mowed, making the complex look like s**t.

    PepeTheMemeDealer Report

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    brendaspagnola avatar
    Brenda
    Brenda
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They can't make you make a easement using your property. Your fence can & should be on your property line

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    #36

    This one is actually really small but I use it as my example just to show how *stupid* they can be for no discernable reason.

    In high school my friends parents were older and retired. They bought a new home and the dad was so excited to spend the entire summer landscaping. He put one of those little fountain features in the backyard. It was bean-shaped. Their HOA made him take it out and and replace it with an oval-shaped fountain pool. Only oval-shaped pools were allowed.

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    michaellargey avatar
    Michael Largey
    Michael Largey
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some HOA rules are just reasonable ideas gone berserk. But only oval-shaped pools???

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    #37

    30 People Share Their Absolute Worst Homeowner Association Stories Our HOA president and vice-president kept one-upping a new resident, some rich dude who was renovating and adding on to a house he bought. Later, I found out the duo was caught stealing fees and payments to pay for their project."
    "The new resident then built a five-story tower with a bar on the top floor. The duo couldn't beat that and tried to do everything they can to f*ck over the new resident, some of which involved sabotaging the supplies and materials.

    The duo was arrested for something else not related to their d*ck contest. The HOA lost a lot of power and trust so they just collected fees and cleaned up the place

    illogicalfuturity , stevepb Report

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    praecordia avatar
    Alma Muminovic
    Alma Muminovic
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As they should. WTF is up with these unbelievably petty power trips?

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    #38

    I had to get aggressive towards the HOA hag-nazi that used to stalk our old neighborhood. The HOA kept harassing me for vehicles parking on my lawn while I was on business trips, and I had to remind them that they weren't my vehicle, and I can't control what others do when I'm not home. Then, they continued sending me fines for "unkempt property" because my neighbor's lawn crew wouldn't mow the incline between our properties, which was technically not even my property. Another time I got a fine for "letting in too many people in the community pool." There were RFID cards for entering the pool area, except *I never actually got mine* and didn't want to touch that band-aid urine-swamp. I was always calling and fighting these morons.

    One summer, I had enough with the poor drainage issue. These ant-hill cookie-cutter sardine-can c**p-built neighborhoods are typically excavated out without much thought in terms of proper drainage. It's a very common problem that the developer ignores and lets the homeowners deal with. I got sick of my back yard turning into mud every time it rained, and the water would build up against our foundation. So I built a short retaining wall on one side, and graded the side against my house and extended the patio bricks out to help keep the water from pooling up. It was a weekend project with some simple rented equipment and two buddies helping out. No permit needed, and I made sure it didn't violate any of the 10-billion rules in the HOA handbook. It turned out looking beautiful and improved drainage so much that the grass grew better in our yard and our neighbor's yard.

    A few weeks later I noticed someone walking around in my back yard looking in my windows. It was the angry HOA narc, some retired woman who would walk around and inspect everyone's property to send complaints to Berkshire Hathaway. I walked outside and asked her what she was doing. She said "I can be here, I'm with the HOA." No, you are trespassing, lady, get off my property. She started rattling off all the violations. I had enough, so said "Look, you can either get off my property, or I'll remove you from it." She gave me this nasty scrumpled-up frown and said she'd call the police. I said "Oh, I'd hate for you to do that and not have a reason, give me a sec." I went inside, opened the nearest window, and racked an (empty) shotgun. She left in a hurry. I called B-H and asked if they condoned people trespassing on my property without asking for permission or stating a reason. They said "absolutely not, we'll address this with [narc]. She should not be doing that." A few weeks later I saw the narc going through my neighbor's yard. We moved not too long after that.

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    #39

    Only removed Biden signs from people's yards, but left Trump signs intact. Our bylaws say no signs in our front yard period. The board was voted out last year, and the new board enforces that rule fairly.

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    #40

    This isn’t even remotely close to what other people have to deal with, but my MIL died suddenly. We quickly found out she had not one, but two different HOAs. They had some portal to pay fees, but we obviously didn’t have access to it. Neither would answer their phones or return messages, outside of the very first one when I let them know the situation and they told me they’d get back to me about how we could pay. They kept sending overdue notices for months, with late fees, and we couldn’t get it cleared up until we got the realtor involved when we got it ready enough to sell. We had complete strangers in the neighborhood trying to help us contact them.
    How can you have TWO HOAs?!

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    #41

    Worked for a landlord who owned 4 townhomes on one lot. There was a 5th town home he didn't own. He created an HOA exclusively for the lot, with the sole purpose to put a lien on the 5th building to force out that owner so he could buy it. All of the other members of the HOA were his employees of the company that he had purchased his properties under.

    I guess if capitalism is your thing, it isn't necessarily a horror story. But as the then-property manager, it felt more to me that we were harassing and intimidating a low income immigrant homeowner for the sake of greed.

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    viktorwottschel avatar
    Viktor
    Viktor
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I thought HOAs only have power if you signed up for them?! Read lots of stories here about people whose house predates the local HOA and they just laughed in their face when they came with unreasonable demands.

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    #42

    Wanted to replace our townhouse's white aluminum siding with white vinyl siding, and they told us no because it would be too close to our neighbors' colors, and "washout" the row.

    it's already f****n white!

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    #43

    Never lived in one but worked in one. Board evicted someone because a guy cold cocked him at a party. The guy who swung was the brother of a board member and the guy who got slugged supposedly made a pass at the other guys wife. From what I've seen HOAs are a lot like highschools with more alcohol.

    Liljdb0524 Report

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    #44

    A close family member of mine is trying to build a home in a resort community. SUUPER strict HOA type community. Fine whatever, except he has special needs. He's in a wheelchair because he's paralyzed, therefore he needs a custom home. Resort said no problem. Their builder gave him plans and none of it was actually good. Like they maybe complied to some ADA laws but never bothered to look at it to see if it's actually functional for a wheelchair user.

    It's not.

    Family member asks to bring his own architect, they say no. He reads by laws and CCRs or whatever they are, show he's allowed his own architect. They allow. Architect presents plans, they say no to one thing. He reads up and finds it is allowed. They allow, but say no to something else. Back and forth for months with them being so nit picky.

    All because being in a wheelchair means your house will look a little different from the neighborhood.

    As an example of what might be different and look different from the neighborhood: wider doors for the chair to get through.

    There's no evidence to show that they are not being ableists. Also no evidence to show that they are not just a holes.

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    brendaspagnola avatar
    Brenda
    Brenda
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sue for discrimination. ADA Laws override HOA laws when building or modifying a home. As long as the exterior colors and yard are good, they can't do squat

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    #45

    They planted random trees in front of everyone's house.

    Fast forward 20 years and about 1/3 are crab apple that's start splitting at about 3-4 feet off the ground. HOA now says trees have to have 6ft of clearance and that they arent responsible for what trees you have, oh and if it dies in the process, you're required to get a new tree planted of their choosing.

    All in all something like 60 trees died and had to be replanted for no reason at all.

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    #46

    When we moved into our last house we noticed the previous owners had a DirecTV satellite dish in the back yard. The previous owners had lived there for 3 years and neighbors said they put it up as soon as they moved in.

    Within 2 months we got a letter from the HOA demanding that we IMMEDIATELY remove said satellite dish as it was not allowed and we didn't ask permission to put it up anyways. They wanted it done in 48 hours and then a picture sent with the newspaper date like a hostage standing in that spot to prove we had done it.

    We tried to respond saying we're happy to remove it as we don't intend to use it but we weren't the ones who put it up in the first place. They insisted we were and said we'd be fined if it wasn't done in their time frame.

    It was so stupid and petty and not a great beginning to living there. Lots of Karens walking around [angry] at nothing.

    Business_Loquat5658 Report

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    Kate Jones
    Kate Jones
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I lol'd at the 'like a hostage'. If you'd been fined you should have paid it in a black suitcase like you were paying a ransom.

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    #47

    They have the power to foreclose on a house for practically any reason they see fit.

    They even have power over individuals that own their homes free and clear.

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    #48

    HOA would not maintain the lawns of some houses no one was living in at the time. This was a major eyesore as the front lawns had started to look like a jungle. However they immediately resumed upkeep after people started threatening to not pay their bills until HOA upheld their end of the contract. Another one is when the president of the HOA decided the front of the neighborhood needed some plants put in. What makes this so annoying is that instead of just getting a contractor to do it for a reasonable price, he hired out a friends business for an absurd price, something like $400 for three plants. There were a few other small things that were just petty and childish. However they are relatively tame compared to some others that I’ve heard of in this thread.

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    #49

    As I bought my condo the hoa went from small local to corp management. And they are a bear to get anything done. They pay booklets out with bold cap lettering to pay on time. When I send my check (I refuse auto withdrawal ) I remind them of how threatening this language is and to stop using it. The following year it was reworded to state: “please pay by —(date). It works sometimes on the blow back side

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    #50

    I don’t live in a HOA or the US but I once had a neighbour call the city on me because I let grape vines cover the railing studs on my front steps. I just got a letter saying a complaint was made but I don’t have to do anything. Letter didn’t say who but I know exactly who it was but they no longer live there so it’s all good now.

    CertainUnit9145 Report

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